Dozens Killed in Egypt as Security Forces Clash with Morsi Supporters

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Dozens Killed in Egypt as Security Forces Clash with Morsi Supporters

CAIRO – At least 40 supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi were killed by police and other gunmen early Saturday as security forces moved to break up a monthlong demonstration by thousands of Islamists camped outside a Cairo mosque.

The death toll could rise. Al Jazeera reported that at least 75 people had been killed and thousands injured in predawn clashes that followed warnings from the army for Morsi’s backers, including his Muslim Brotherhood movement, to disperse from the Rabaa al Adawiya mosque.

Fireworks were set off during intense clashes Saturday in Cairo

“Over 100 fathers, brothers, sons, husbands have been lost today,” said Gehad Haddad, a Brotherhood spokesman, in a tweet. “Their loved ones [are] weeping [for] them but vowing not to let their deaths be in vain.”

The casualty numbers could not be independently verified. But the deaths appear to mark a perilous turning point in the battle between Islamists and the new military-backed government over the nation’s political future.

Morsi was overthrown in a coup on July 3 and his supporters are demanding his reinstatement.